Chuck Pillon

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Thursday, April 02, 2015

In this post I offer the final chapter to The Seattle Situation: A City Adrift. Things often go very wrong in police departments before the
media take off the rose-colored glasses and come close to effective
reporting. The media overlook or obscure indicators of potential problems that
may result from decisions made early in the tenure of new police
administrations. The honeymoon period has become sacrosanct. Newcomers are treated as special people by Seattle media. This default position is worthy of
some conversation later on.

By the time critical reporting begins (if ever) it can be
too late to correct the course. That has been the case at Seattle PD for thirty
or more years. Here we take a look at a new police command in its
first year - the “Early Katie O’Toole” - based on a growing record of her actual
decisions and utterances. My observations about the history of the decline in police
management are not intended to imply that there can be no quality administrators imported from other Cities, nor that O’Toole is flawed because
of her membership in this class or because of her gender. Initial contacts with her were positive, but the
“honeymoon” had to end and real measure necessarily commences. Failure has been a constant over far too many years hereabouts. Only a
harsh light will reveal the cracks in a new regime while there is still time to
recover.

SO FINALLY…KATIE O’TOOLE

Katie O’Toole is the latest in a line of imports to the
position of Police Chief here in Seattle. She represents yet another player in
the Seattle edition of the modern era of police management. Over the past half-century many cities have taken to a
ritualized national search for the best available candidate when replacing a
departing chief. Local talent is marginalized in many of these
cases. The best available standard is often farcical.
It may have less to do with actual expertise than certain other “desirable” but
subjective factors. For instance, a city that has had noticeable racial strife
can almost certainly be counted on to select a minority as the new Chief.
Women also bring to the process a certain novelty that has political value but may have far less practical effect.

Women and persons of color have
provided high quality service to police agencies around the country. I don't imply that their novelty lessens the quality of leadership, but rather that
the media become so fixed on that novelty that they blind themselves, and the
public, to early problems that may fester and worsen because of the fog in which the media wander. The results of this "best available" process are mixed at best.

To understand what confronts O’Toole, and thus be able
to measure her progress, one must accept that Seattle is in serious straits and that O’Toole inherited a calamity. No other perspective can derive from
the well recorded history of police command failure here. And to understand
O’Toole further I am going to reflect on her early decisions against a backdrop
that the media can’t seem to grasp or are unwilling to confront.

But first…Seattle is in the toils of the “Federal Adoption
process” that I mentioned
earlier. The systemic failure that set that process in motion cannot be attributed to any cause other
than the failure of management at SPD that began with Patrick Fitzsimons back
in 1979. My observations are backed by that well-recorded history. I add that fact here because of my personal “collision” with Pat Fitzsimons
back in the mid-80s: I confronted him publicly about TOLERANCE OF DRUG-DEALING
in inner-city Seattle neighborhoods. Some will say that conflict alone
motivates me to haunt Pat with criticism. (Look forward to a post in the
near-future entitled for the actual details.)

The first of the "special travelers" - Patrick Fitzsimons

Fitzsimons, in his paranoia about “corruption,” curtailed drug
enforcement and crippled Civil Abatement, a patrol division program for
confronting and shutting down the “crack-house” scourge that had many Seattle
neighborhoods in a state of siege. Fitzsimons cryptically blocked an invitation by the DEA for
two patrol sergeants, the principal architects of this very effective strategy, to
address a DEA Seminar in San Francisco…such was the degree of his spite. Note
here that Fitzsimons was not invited, nor was his Narcotics unit Commander. It
was clear to the DEA and other agencies that these two were actually dragging
SPD out of the regional drug enforcement effort.

A perspective on this mysterious withdrawal can be found
soon in this blog. Also, on the last
Sunday of December, 1985, the Times finally did a rare front page review of
Fitzsimons’ destruction of the regional anti-drug effort. Well worth
reading…especially for doubters of my criticisms here. It serves as both a
measure of police management and an indicator of what the media COULD do if
politics were put aside in the interest of public safety.

On to California Dreamin' or the Reign of the Norman (Stamper, that is) King.

Next came Norm (“make no waves”) Stamper, who wanted the
“seas to remain calm around City Hall” at any cost! Don’t wanna waken his Honor
the Mayor, now do we? So dedicated was he to the illusion that all was well if the cops
stayed away that Norm let the WTO demonstrations get completely out of hand
with enormous property damage, injured cops, and disgrace for the SPD. So long
Norm!

Now comes NO FRILLS GIL, The Man from Myopia

Next came Gil Kerlikowski…Gil from the same mold as Norm “no waves” Stamper. But Gil took hands-off policing to another level. One Fat
Tuesday Eve (a big Mardi Gras-like celebration in Seattle that had become
increasingly ugly in those recent years) Gil so restricted police intervention
in an out-and-out riot in Pioneer Square that a horrible event occurred: a
savage beating death occurred with cops held in check, literally watching from
across the street.

Gil knew that the Mayor wanted the big celebration to go
off without any police-related incident. So when a band of savages set upon
innocent revelers on First Avenue he ordered the cops to stay out of the fray.
Gil was taking all this in from the safety of a parking garage across the
street, and some thirty feet overhead from the squadron of cops who were
literally screaming for permission to intervene."Stand down!" came the order
from above, and THE COPS DID SO! Remarkable, no? That default will be further
reviewed here in time as well. So the savages set upon any and all at will. Then it
happened - one heroic young man, Kristopher Kime, went to the rescue of a young
woman who had been beaten down to the sidewalk. For his effort Kris was also
savagely assaulted and was to die of his injuries. By the Grace of God the
young woman survived.

The Mayor awoke the next morning primarily content that his
police chief had not precipitated any uproar. A tragic preventable death as a
consequence? Shit happens! Right Gil? But several of the cops who had been restrained at least
spoke out publicly, and donated to the funeral fund for young Kris. Too little
too late though…even if nobly done! Gil hung on for a time. In this interim he launched another
“jewel of command wisdom.” He set the working shifts up so that the troops were
only marginally under the purview of their supervisors. Some days for an hour
or two, others not at all. People wonder then about patterns of mistakes by
cops that grew in this vacuum?

The Feds properly made much ado about this absurdity - lack of
first-line supervision - and it is finally going the way of other folly at SPD.
Gil hurried off to become the National Drug Czar for some myopic
president. Via Con Dios. There was a brief intermission for a hometown boy, John
Diaz, but his was a rather unfocused tenure as Seattle continued to decline.
John stumbled along as disoriented as his contemporaries at SPD. All had been
crippled by the mismanagement styles they absorbed under the unholy three
just mentioned.

Back to the unfolding O’Toole chapter

Here again I have to interject an update! I began the
narrative below with the note that about six months had passed since O’Toole
arrived. Some more weeks have passed and certain more recent events need entry
at this time.

O’Toole has been busy at her musical-chairs command game, importing command-types from elsewhere, putting her team together, getting her
ducks in a row, so she says. She has also mentioned again that she is hard at work
on a computer purchase ($11,000,000) that will track citizen concerns about
cops and policing. This is all part of her intensive effort to please the Federal
Monitor. And she has taken a few definitive disciplinary steps as well. Jolly
good show!

In the meantime, out on the streets, public safety itself
is still very much in question! The hard fact is, what they bring into focus is that O’Toole continues to take refuge in the fog of that Federal
Process. She has yet to sustain improvements in police presence and public
safety. SPD IS STILL ON AUTO-PILOT!Downtown is getting some attention…a little more foot
patrol…but there is a dirty little secret to that. A forthcoming piece on The Great Labor Day Parade will make it clear that O’Toole did not show any
initiative here until “motivated” by an old cop’s foot patrol
demonstration that just happened to catch her eye.

Also significant is a news item from KOMO featuring Dave Meinert, a tavern owner on Capitol Hill. Last summer, Meinert with colleagues and other merchants, staged a public meeting to call out for more
police presence, primarily foot patrol, to put an end to assaults and robberies
and other mayhem they suffer along Broadway and sidestreets. Mind you, this
all plays out within eyesight of the SPD East Precinct. And 12th and Pine!

SPD (O’Toole) responded with the requested increases, but
only for a time. So there was Dave Meinert on the tube again the other night, praying that the City would go proactive this year and step up the police
presence BEFORE THINGS AGAIN GET OUT OF HAND!

KOMO went on to say that the Mayor ("Special" Ed Murray) had
promised that patrol presence would be
increased! INDEED! But there was no mention of O’Toole! No indication of
interest or intention about the problem! And no KOMO comment to that point.
Remember that O’Toole visited that Capitol Hill group last year…and
acknowledged that she recognized their fears. But now she is absent? Oh the
mystery.

It is as if the media and “Special” Ed have given O’Toole a
pass. It seems that as long as she makes the occasional cameo announcing some type of bureaucratic move, she can delay her entry into the real arena - the
cauldron of public safety - as long as the public allows. The backdrop is filled out by the news that Magnolia and Ballard are now on the verge of joining other districts
hiring off-duty cops to have at least a minimally effective police presence. SO
AGAIN, KATIE…WHERE THE HELL ARE THE COPS? You have a force of over thirteen
hundred cops and you can't even mobilize half that many to get out on the
streets and prevent more of the crime that people suffer?

BACK NOW TO THE GREATER PERSPECTIVE

Almost eleven months have passed since
O’Toole took the helm. She was treated to all the ceremonials that befit the latest
“special person” to enter the Seattle scene. All of her extensive police credentials were well published and received by the “special folks” hereabouts. Members of the media practically prostrate themselves at her door. But it was clear that
her greatest merit was gender. That should not remain the major measure of her
efforts, but it can hardly be any other way in Seattle.Being
“special enough” quiets more objective measures for quite some time. In some
cases, quiets it, period. Point of fact, there is some incipient irony in this
with respect to “Special” Ed Murray, who arrived just before O’Toole and in fact
hired her. Ed arrived touted as Seattle’s “first Gay
Mayor.” That aura
has already affected coverage of his performance. Much as with Nick (“the Black
Guy”) Metz, Ed may forever be seen through a different lens as a result of the
agenda of some in the Gay community. It is a millstone he may not be able to
shake.

Not a long tenure for O’Toole yet, but certain events to date
seem to indicate what her style and priorities will be. Unfortunately, in spite
of early indicators, she appears to have been caught off guard by the
political firestorm she encountered. It will be difficult to regain her
equilibrium and balance the political with the practical.

I made an overture to O’Toole soon after she arrived and
settled in. I invited her to meet with a few of us retired cops. With
collective experience of decades of policing in Seattle, extending back 60 plus
years, we felt we could bring the Chief up to date on the mistakes of her
predecessors and provide a perspective on some better moments in SPD
history that no other group could. Some success to build on.

The initial response was encouraging, but we were not to hear
from her for several weeks until she came to a luncheon we hosted. It was worth the wait. In
her comments we could see that some of what we offered had impressed her.
O’Toole noted that she had taken a hard look at the danger and
disgrace that afflicts downtown Seattle and she confirmed the
situation was unacceptable! That raised hope that she would promptly act to bolster
police foot patrol to reduce the danger, both to the residents and business
folk, and certainly the cops who work down there, always undermanned and at all the more risk as a result. But the first sense of doubt of her grasp of the needed
measures began to emerge even as the lunch rolled on.One of our first
suggestions had been to adapt existing manpower to bolster the patrol forces. Based on our extensive experience we indicated that several
dozen more cops could be mobilized by having the non-uniform
personnel, detectives and actual command staff, work a day or so in uniform each
week and “walk the beat” with the regular patrol forces wherever chronic
problems arose.

But lo…O’Toole announced that she had had someone “survey
the department staffing” and that she could only find SIX officers, out of
approximately 700 non-uniform personnel, that could be so utilized. That is
preposterous …and shortsighted. Hell, the command staff alone would provide at
least sixteen more-or-less able bodies. And the exercise would do them good! I
later asked her who had done that “survey” and offered to do another one for
her. No response.

At a meeting soon after, O’Toole was asked by a distressed
Rainier Valley resident just how manpower assignment decisions were made. This
raises another issue, based directly on an early decision, of O’Toole’s
competence. Clearly this resident had a sense that more troops were
needed on the streets all over town. She remembered the days when there were more uniformed cops deployed to very good effect in Rainier
Valley, which has always been “tough turf.” O’Toole’s reply was remarkable. She indicated that she was
actually seeking a “consultant firm” to
advise her on assigning officers. Two of her command staff were present and they tacitly endorsed her plan. They said not a word.

Then it was that I began to see more of the same old
“special person chief” posture emerging. Can anyone possibly explain why an
experienced Police Commander, accompanied by two veteran command staff, has to
hire a consultant to figure out where to assign the cops? Collectively, O’Toole and her “commanders”
have at least fifty years such experience. So what could be at work here?

What first comes to mind, when an apparently
experienced person sidesteps so relevant a question, is that ineptitude or
political concern is the factor. Politics seems far more likely, based on additional
indicators of O’Toole’s disposition. Consider the uproar when an officer wrote a significant
number of citations for smoking marijuana in public. These tickets were written
in downtown areas where the smell of burning weed is constant, primarily as a
result of inconsiderate and disruptive behavior, and primarily by a regular
gaggle of young or homeless people who plague public areas like Westlake Park.
Their antics also shield a lot of sometimes vicious criminal behavior.

These citations have merit as one aspect of a police effort
to discourage the rowdies from interrupting normal social activity and causing
a lot of ordinary folks fear and distress. Seems like some good police work. But…the cop in question made a couple of irreverent notes on
these tickets lampooning the City Attorney Peter Holmes, since Holmes is an
avowed proponent of legal marijuana possession. The cop may have felt that some extra
signal to Holmes might alert him to the very anti-social results of the MJ
legalization.

Sure enough, Holmes takes exception, raises the matter with
Special Ed and O’Toole, and the Seattle Times makes the expose of this cop’s
“heresy” FRONT PAGE NEWS. This doubtless alarms Special Ed at City
Hall. So something clearly has to be done…don’t you know?

Sure enough, the cop is hauled up on notice to O’Toole’s
office and leaves chastened and apologetic. But the master stroke is
O’Toole’s decree that those citations will all be cancelled because they were written for the wrong reason. The wrong friggin' reason!

So the questions must land on O’Toole’s desk! Chief, given that countless folks in a city like Seattle receive citations for
some misdemeanor or other every day, how then will you decide which were written
for the “right reason” or not? Will you attend to the concerns of any emergent “special”
group of people like Special Ed did for Harriet Walden when she demanded that
her new “special category” (Black guys) be exempt from routine handling in
personnel assignments? Will you polygraph cops who seem to pay special (maybe excessive?) attention to certain groups of people, such as transvestites on
Broadway to see just what motivates them?What about
the cops who specialize in DUI enforcement? Here is another very important public safety
problem, impaired driving, and there are a few cops that really excel here. Will
you accept questions of their “motives” from defense attorneys and drag those
cops through the mill and subject them to public criticism?

It has to be said, Katie…you threw in with Special Ed and
Pete with this sort of "PR sop”…and it will come back to haunt you. When you
let special interests…or a petty minded City Attorney…dictate enforcement, you have crossed the sort of bridge that ALWAYS crumbles behind you.

As to the suggestion that you mobilize more cops into
uniform to confront the runaway uproar and violence downtown. In the military
they call this a “SURGE”…and they clearly work. On the one hand, you seem to get
it: But on a recent weekend there were at least two more violent shooting
events downtown. And you have publicly confirmed that you know this is an
ongoing dangerous outrage.

SO…WHERE THE HELL ARE THE COPS, Katie?

After a “Holiday Parade” (a “one old cop” foot patrol
demonstration) I conducted back on Labor Day you actually did marginally increase troop-strength downtown. More
confirmation of my point that this is the solution. But here is the rub! .The violence continues, maybe even
worsens - more strong-arm robberies, more drug dealing - so clearly you have not
done enough! How can you now not put more boots on the ground? Do you dare
wait until the bullets flying again kill some innocent?

Early decisions indicate that O’Toole, in the face of
what she has herself described as an ugly and dangerous situation the
heart of Seattle, declines to sufficiently bolster certain important
enforcement (foot patrol - which are the scourge of drug use and dealing) and fails to
employ available manpower to restore some equilibrium (safety) for the
beleaguered folk who must live and work there. Everyone okay with that?

MORE TO THE POINT…WASSUP WITH THIS?

Here is the real grim possibility that may explain the
disconnection that O’Toole herself has recognized. But reader beware…these
facts are as politically incorrect as they are pertinent. It is clear that much of the violence downtown, in fact
virtually all gun violence, is at the hands of Black males, young men who prey
on one another almost exclusively when
it comes to the shootings, but prey almost exclusively on non-blacks when it
comes to the muggings and other street crime they account for. Keep that in
mind here as we examine the downtown situation in a more definitive light.

Recall the demotion of Nick Metz by Jim Pugel, which was reversed later by
Special Ed (who is Pure Seattle when it comes to yielding to pressure from voices in
minority sectors). Can the tolerance of so much of the downtown uproar result
from some additional unholy concession made to those voices? A few strident voices in the Black community raise all kinds
of hell when they feel some sort of “profiling” is occurring, when young Black
people receive much attention from the cops. This is in fact one of the central
complaints that brought the Federales riding into town. It is the most common
stock-in-trade of police critics.

So polarizing and politically potent is the profiling rap that
even any modest evidence of focus on young Black men by the cops can cause a
near hysterical reaction from some in the “community”! The history of actual abuse that begot legitimate concern
about “profiling’ in the Black community is not to be forgotten or excused. Time
was that Black folks, not just young Black men, were in real danger in some parts
just for being in the “wrong part of town.” But that concern has long been
addressed with increasing integration (affirmative action) of police forces and
education of all the cops about the unintended consequences of what may be
reasonable actions in a given moment over forty or more years.Now any youngster is as likely to earn the attention of cops
as not, BECAUSE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE THE SOURCE OF THE BULK OF STREET CRIME. But…no
matter to the “voices.” Seen in this broader perspective one has to admit
that it isn’t just black youngsters that are being paid close attention. "It
ain't the color…it’s the neighborhood…STUPID.” So it is that any other “color” young man who fits the
general description of individuals or groups that are causing significant crime
and uproar in any area can damn well figure to be confronted by the police in
certain circumstances these days, and necessarily so.

But in Seattle and many other towns the cops can find
themselves under not-so-subtle pressure…even to the point of not broadcasting
the race of suspects of immediate crimes, if the suspects happen to be Black. This inanity (I call it cowardice) satisfies the ego of the
few "Black Voices" but has an incredible price for the greater Black Community. It is in the shadow of this “protected status”
that the incredibly destructive subculture of violence has engulfed many young
black men.

But to settle the immediate question, which we leave with Special Ed, "Petey" Holmes, and Katie O’Toole: Has some “Devil's bargain" been struck here? Have you agreed to keep the cops’ attention
off young Black men unless they are found directly involved in some violent
incident for fear that they might feel “Profiled”? Is this why they are free to smoke dope, and in fact sell
it, right out in the open in this city? If you doubt this, you ought to take a
tour downtown. Do this with a police escort. I suggest you look up Officer Randy
Jokela; he knows that scene pretty damn well.

The situation in Seattle begins more and more to resemble
other cities that have gone into a spiral of decline. And it impacts most
certainly inner-city and neighboring environs. There the greatest price is paid
by good Black folk who live in a sea of crime, exacerbated by befuddled civic
authorities and police command who read too much into the uproar caused by
activists who use hysteria and dated history to stifle intelligent
consideration of the problems suffered by the community.

In hard point of fact, young Black men, sheltered by the
timidity of the Mayor and others at City Hall, are wreaking havoc and killing
one another practically at will as police commanders look away from any but the
most unavoidable confrontations. Can’t have anybody feel “profiled” now, can we?

Another anomaly in “early O’Toole” catches the eye as well - the announcement that all of her command staff would be required to “sit at
their desks” and write some mysterious essay to justify their retention of
command assignments. How curious? This charade opens all subsequent command assignments to a measure based on what? Poetic skill? Creative writing basics? Personal
connections and allegiances? This again is one of those “early decisions” that
has received absolutely no follow-up notice by the media.

So we have the specters of “police command by consultant”
when it comes to line (street) assignments and “command assignment by default”
when it comes to the command ranks.

I realize that these observations…criticisms…ain't exactly
“Seattle Nice” and are bound to raise some hackles in the “special crowd” that
doesn’t want any rain on the (extended) coronation parade.

But lace this subtle-mystery-method of command placement
with the earlier signs that race (e.g., the Nick Metz affair), among other subjective
factors, has apparently become a consideration in the management of civic
affairs, and then have a look at another O’Toole maneuver - the exception of
one Carmen Best (recently appointed Assistant Chief) from the mystery-method
approach. What in the hell is going on here? Who is Carmen Best…and what
qualifies her as the exception?

To be “sitting at the right hand of the throne” as a
troubled police department seeks to “pull out of the dive”…would one not expect
to find a veteran commander? Someone experienced in crisis confrontation and
personnel allocation? What would come to mind for a candidate here?

It is important to provide a little insight here. Her
colleagues generally think well of Chief Best. She is personable and
presentable. She is well remembered in public thought, to anyone paying
attention, as the “attractive face” of the Seattle Police department. Carmen served for some time as the media spokesperson. With
numerous television appearances under her belt highlighting this crime
investigation or other, Carmen joins the ranks locally of Sheriff John
Urquhart, Ed Troyer down in Pierce Country, and others here and there who have
become better-known to the public than even the various Chiefs they work for.
Such is the power of video media.

However, a look at Chief Best’s actual police experience, especially in command roles, does not tend to “flesh out” the profile one would expect for the second in command at this time (or
any other, for that matter). Yet…here she is. And because these are such critical times at the SPD, I have
to touch again on the question: Does race matter in the civic world of “Special" Ed Murray? As onerous as it is, if there is to be real restoration of public
safety in Seattle, these are the sorts of “early decisions” that demand more
scrutiny.

Chief Best has very little operational command history. Hers
have been those assignments generally associated with ascension up the “special
ladder” in police departments. As much public exposure as possible…and usually
little “combat command.” She served as South Precinct Patrol Captain for a brief
three months last year. That’s it! No one has seen, or been offered, any more
detailed history. Is anyone in the media, or at City Hall (the Public Safety
Committee of the City Council maybe), asking why more “vetting” has not been done? Not a
chance!

What could be the consequences for this situation at SPD? Troop morale and operational competence are already in a tailspin, but...what the hell?
Again, the “Murray moment” here in the Emerald City poses real questions
that, like previous chapters in the decline of SPD, has been insulated by adoring
media from these sorts of questions. Whatever her level of
choices here, O’Toole will pay the price for the uncertainty this all creates. In this silence, the working cop is left to wonder, are
"special credentials" paramount at SPD? Were more competent commanders passed
by to satisfy the need for “special imagery” in Seattle? For the unhidden fact is that Chief Carmen Best is Black…and
she is a woman! There it is, Ed…there it is, Seattle…there it is, media…the very
sort of unholy question no one wants to hear. Yet a question demanded by the
earlier capitulation to artificial racial
concerns in the Metz matter. Is Carmen Best just another convenience
in the campaign at City Hall to keep the Rainbow shining…at any cost? Is
gender now a prime qualifier?

There may be holy hell in some precincts for even raising
such issue. Just not “Seattle Nice” is it? But posturing along such
lines (if it is in fact the motive here again), catering to strident voices
without reason, is a distinct part of the recipe for urban decline in this
country. Both the Seattle Police department (with all its diverse collection of
faces) and Carmen Best deserve better.

And where does this all land? Oh…the toils of Katie O’Toole!

If Carmen Best is the preeminent candidate for second in
command, more power to her! If she is not, explanation must be sought. And if
anyone wonders at my motives here (an old white cop who won't go away) in
raising this disturbing issue, I am going to add a personal note. Read Shootouts in the Ghetto for
some insight. You will see why I present myself as distinctly qualified to
raise this critical issue in the moment here. And Carmen…I hope you
can find the time to read it, too. Regards…Chuck Pillon.

WHERE THE BUCK STOPS!

In the final measure here it is up to O’Toole to grab
the reigns and run up against the bewilderment at City Hall and the conflicted
voices of “community spokespeople," to tell the Federales to take a deep breath and put the cops back
on the corner. Don’t let these political cancers grow! Further, she is going to have to be a lot more transparent.
Don’t leave these early decisions to swirl in a mysterious cloud. If
certain quotas or personnel expectations have been imposed, either by the
Feds or Special Ed, out with it! For the good of the City…and the Service.

Things looked good in the beginning but the political winds
have shifted and O’Toole’s sails seem to be going slack. In a telling
utterance after a wringing-out in the Federal Court recently, O’Toole remarked
that she “thought she finally had her ducks lined up” in her effort to please
the Feds. Enough already!

Time to regain command of that adoption process. The
“friendly Feds” can’t be allowed to do more harm than good. Cooperation
shouldn’t lead to surrender to that unquestioned process. And there the media
have set up SPD to fail as well. They should be doing more incisive reporting
on the problems in “adoptions” elsewhere. The old bromide about ignoring the lessons of history hangs
over all of this like an anvil teetering on a ledge. Katie…I hope you reconsider
and find some time for us old troops. “Special" Ed, Merrick Bobb, Bernie Melekian, Judge “Roy Bean”
Robart, no one at City Hall…none of them are going to be able to tell you about
the effort to bring the Anti- Crime Teams into being, the advent of the K9
Unit, the once-grand Block Watch Program, the outreach to the original Youth
Service Bureaus and alternative school programs. They know virtually nothing of these stellar moments. Just
ask them. They are simply voices in concert with the Federales, joining in
blind obedience to a process that, while it has some marginal merit, has crippled
the very institution it is supposed to be improving. Have you asked Merrick
Bobb what brought him to conclude that there is DE-POLICING going on in
Seattle? If, as it seems, you are going to stay in lock-step with
them, you will be letting the danger you have publicly recognized grow even as
the Federal Charade continues to sweep you along.

You may not be mindful of the observations of another recent
candidate for the job there at SPD, a guy named Rick Braziel out of
California (COP in Sacramento) who declined to even take the test here when you
did because of the contradiction and incompetence he observed in his
preliminary visits to City Hall. He made it clear that the mess would make it extremely
difficult to right-the-course at SPD. HELL! We veterans could write a book on
the subject. The pretenders and partisans at City Hall have long been a serious
factor in the decline of this City. Those observations are worth remembering. Braziel’s
credentials are substantial, like yours, and we know that things haven’t gotten
better at City Hall. That ain’t the Mensa Society meeting at Fifth and
James! Let your allegiance be first to the folks in this
City. Let Special Ed and the Federales take their proper place in
line. And let folks hear from you on this subject.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Continuing commentary on the decline of public safety in
Seattle is my primary purpose at this time, but I a bit of inspirational illustration of my time at SPD is important, too. My previous story Shootouts in the Ghetto told of the gathering of young cops
and central area kids in the gym up at 17th and Fir. But it wasn’t bullets
flying…it was basketballs.

What I am recounting here illustrates another remarkable
moment, adding to scores of others, to give you a sense of the treasure of
human experience I gathered over those many years.

A few short years into the “mission” (my police
service), we faced the first rioting over civil rights and anti-war issues. That
a “country kid” from Eastern Washington, then east Renton, was caught in disbelief at these
developments is an understatement. I came to the cop car life with an arcane
notion that the good folks would love us and the crooks would “take it on the
lam”! One night, as we stood in a hailstorm of rocks and bottles and a bullet
or two, I was finally shorn of that innocence. For good!

The important message here is the rich and unexpected
blessing that followed. As the rioting up at Garfield High nearby slowly
dissipated near midnight, I took a sentinel position at 23rd and Spruce
Street. That watchfulness has always been an instinct with me.

There were passersby, good folks, mostly Black, making their
way around the scene down the street. I greeted them with as much reassurance
as I could. Several stopped to talk with me. I took from that the sense that
decent conversation was always valuable in the face of such strife. There is
far less that divides us, even when racial tension seems like
a runaway train, than most people might believe.

Now to my meeting with Jesus.

Most folks had passed by as midnight arrived, but I felt a
presence behind me. I was about to turn when I felt a hand softly on my
shoulder. I glanced that way to see an elderly black man in a preacher's frock.

I was a little startled at first but then remembered that
there was an old church on the corner. It may have been the calming of that
gentle touch, but I was momentarily speechless. Before I could react the old man spoke. "Son, be
patient with these children. They are angry tonight but they will need you
tomorrow." I am seldom speechless; most people think I talk too much. But it was
a moment before I collected my wits. Then I turned to thank the old man, BUT HE
WAS GONE!

I walked around that old church, found not a door or window
ajar, no fresh footprints on the lawn or steps. Not a sign of the old man. But I
continued to ponder the nature of the greater sign here: how had this happened…and why?

Just a few nights later, when I and my fellow cops gathered for a
“post-riot debriefing” (a few beers and other spirits), I spontaneously
uttered the words…LET ME TELL ABOUT WHEN I MET JESUS…AND HE WAS BLACK. This
crew included several Black cops as well. We were well integrated by then.

I am the perpetual “class-clown” sort…and the crew literally
burst out in laughter. I enjoy my own work as well. I was laughing, too. But
later it began to settle in, as it has to this day. I believe those moments were
out of the ordinary. Both that hand on my shoulder and that surprising
utterance at the “debriefing” the next night.

Something happened there that I can still only ponder. As
much as I will say for certain is that it fits into the many blessings I enjoyed
by the grace of many old Black folks I was to meet and know in my days as a cop in the central district!

Soon I will tell you of Big Momma's Coffee, Sarg's Barbecue and others.

Monday, February 16, 2015

In the last post I left off with the promise that a more definitive analysis of the early tenure of new Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole would follow here, as a continuation of a more general examination of the decline of the Seattle Police Department and the safety and dignity of the City as well.However, in that last post I also took a very direct look at some companion factors of decline in and around City Hall and SPD: Race (not to be confused here with RACISM), gender, affirmative action, none of which come without a price. That “price” is the “uncomfortable little topic” the media and civic leadership are loathe to discuss realistically.As long as “the conversation” remains confounded by this pointless barrier it is going to continue in futility. I intend to change that. In a future post I will isolate the toxic issue of RACISM itself for more definitive consideration.At this point, because I am determined to forge blunt conversations, I am offering something of a portrait of my experiences that illustrate why I claim standing to drag these “sensitive matters” out in the open. Me, the old white cop.I am from that class of people who pay most of “the price” of social change. My point is not to undo that social change but to explain to the beneficiaries that it would have been and even tougher climb were it not for our goodwill and patience. Especially with “affirmative action.”I have never had a person who benefited from the gains of the last half-century come up and thank me for my forbearance. Never even heard anyone acknowledge that we accepted personal sacrifice for the most part with dignity and fair good humor. In that vacuum is a subtle inference. Some clearly just thought we “had it coming” because it was “white guys” that had heaped all the grief on minorities to begin with.In that thoughtlessness they were trampling us with a stereotype even as they fought to escape the stereotypes that had been used by some in white society to hold them in bondage to that sort of quiet tyranny. Sort of the same way battered people may become batterers themselves in time.Ironic that it is necessary, in a discussion about critical social/political issues, for a “minority” to have to prequalify himself to join the forum. But minority I am: an aging white male with a “privileged blue collar” background. And, worse, your basic battle-toughened "Ghetto Cop”! Hell, in many minds that makes me the “problem” and hardly a likely contributor to the solution.But my other credentials will surprise some of the critics. If they have the integrity to pay attention they may understand better what I say, and understand that I am saying it from a unique perspective. If some still object to my “forced entry” here that ought to disqualify them, not me. I will get to those other “credentials” in time if it becomes necessary.The conversation I mention above has been the near-exclusive estate of the other more-apparent minorities - people of color or other more chosen status and the “inevitable aristocracy” - the political class who rely on the hysteria these issues generate to maintain the divide between us. In that divide they find their fortune. Little place for white commoners at the table.I want to get right to the title theme here because it will lift this lament back into positive territory. But take note of what I have said here. The longer we who have been scapegoated and ignored the poorer the conversation!SHOOTOUTS IN THE GHETTO! I was in many “shootouts” in the inner-city precincts of Seattle over my many years there. Yes, shootouts.Conjures up a lot of grim imagery, doesn’t it? Quick-triggered cop(s) gunning down anyone who in the least aggravates them. Oblivious and immune to the consequences to the given community they prey upon, especially young Black men? That is the stereotype, promoted and used by the self-serving few who stir this “fog” around us. But the truth is otherwise. The “fog” arises from the mistakes, or malice, of a very few of us. That point needs regular repetition.Now, back to the “shootouts.” I did spend years in the company of youngsters we were supposed to have “preyed on,” kids who were mired in the pathos of those neighborhoods. Kids caught up in crime of serious sort. Kids who sometimes committed vicious street-robberies, random assaults, burglaries, sundry other crimes of opportunity, and some of a very determined nature.And I never once had blood on my hands. Shot at, spit on, cussed and kicked, and never any blood on my hands, which was a journey shared with almost all of my partners.But with my troops I chased those kids down night after day. Chased them down whenever necessary, put them behind bars, and haunted them when they were back on the loose after brief -always brief - periods of incarceration. I took away their loot, their guns, their cars, even their shoes on occasion. It shouldn't surprise the cynics that I and my troops were in a lot of shootouts with those kids then…right?Hate to disappoint the cynics who can scarcely imagine the absence of bloodletting in this cauldron. But, you see friends, it wasn't bullets flying, IT WAS BASKETBALLS! Basketballs flying in any court we could find. How’s that for a spin? We took our case to the basketball “court” instead of the Juvenile Court whenever we could.We diverted these kids, took them, virtually “shanghaied” them in some cases, under our wing and showed them a world they could hardly believe. Those young kids and our young cops met head-to-head- in situations where the kids could not express themselves as bullies, thieves or other destructive types.What they could do, however, was imagine themselves as equals in a way they had hardly ever experienced. Maybe even better than equals. If they played hard and smart, they could even WIN, “kick the cops’ butts” for a change!”This “crowd of gunslingers” (the cops) we put together to take the game to these kids was a true “Rainbow Coalition” too. About a dozen cops from the East Precinct at the time, all inspired by the near immediate success we had in turning these kids around. White…Black…Asian…the whole “Rainbow”. And it wasn't lost on these kids the fraternity we shared.There was Billy (captain) Edwards, Don (coach) Huston, Bobby (world’s fastest Puerto Rican hub cap thief) Garcia, Kirby (whoosh) Leufroy, there was Gary, Charlie, John (the politician) Manning, Jerry (Kung Pau) Fernandez…The list can go on, but I crippled here by my aging memory. You brothers I have failed to mention will forgive me I trust.Then there was the beginning of a softball challenge at the old Judkins Rejected Playfield up off of 23rd and Jackson, put together by Don (the Lt.) Marquardt and Capt Dean (the machine) Olson. Friends, we were on the way to a magical tour of this City that would engender understanding and connection with communities the whole city over, not just the “Ghettos”.John Manning and the late great Mark Sabourin put together an exhibition challenge match with a team put together by Slick Watts and Sonny (killer of six) Sixkiller. We played at Eckstein Jr. High in the north end. Have to say it- cops won 77-76 before an astonished crowd . No truth to the rumor that we put the handcuffs on Slick at halftime either.What we envisioned was a sort of athletic outreach all around town based on the early unqualified success and goodwill. There were a hell of a lot of very good athletes in the police ranks and our games were in earnest. Some of the kids were just amazed and all the more motivated - we never had to “let them win.”Dean Olson was also arranging for our women officers to engage the “Girls from Garfield” that same year. Imagine the effect on the young girls who were, in growing numbers, dropping out for the street life, suddenly in the friendly (but competitive) company of young women they might hope to emulate in time.Many older folks in the “ghetto” were profuse in their appreciation and encouragement. The kids were so engaged that for a while you couldn't slow a cop car down in parts of the “ghetto” because the kids were crawling in the windows, turning on the lights and siren, and demanding a ride past “Tyrone’s (pick a name) house” so they could light him up!But the “game” was not to continue, the opportunity squandered by a few “police administrators” who had a different agenda, who simply looked away with an indifference I have yet to understand.My great sadness remains. We were on this roll just as the first California gangbangers hit Seattle, bringing on a game of their own. They were to prevail, and our games passed into little noted history, with few ever to ponder what what might have been.One truly memorable footnote: Our partner Charlie Allers took three of the most troubled kids on a camping trip over in the Olympics. He was an inspiration for other cops here. Those kids were transformed, at least for a while.You can’t understand the magic here unless I confide that Charlie…well I don’t want to say he was a “REDNECK”…but the rumor was that some folks in his clan were so far right that they thought John Wayne was Gay! Go figure.And I can't forget “Manny and the Amigos,” a group of young Latino guys who we “gunned it up” with many Saturday mornings at the old Public Safety Building gym. Manny’s wife Lydia worked at “the Greeks” at 9th and Madison, poured a lot of coffee and good humor for us cops in her day.As I said, all the grief we endured - losing partners to violence, witnessing every sort of savagery including homicides and horrific other assaults, the inhumanity - took a heavy toll on all our souls. But seeing that magic, those SHOOTOUTS be let slip away because of a failed command staff is probably the worst sadness of all.There are other great memories to relate in time, others that had an equally blessed effect on my soul. One day I will tell of the “night-life” I drew my young cops into, when “Big Momma” had “the coffee” (shop,that is) down on Yesler and Old Sarge” had “the barbeque” up on 20th..I will relate in time as well the make-up of my family as well. Suffice it to say, we are white, black, Asian, Native American, and none of the above (me) I guess. Most of my kin have yet to really figure me out…me included.If anyone still wants to question my “standing” to speak to these challenging issues, look me up. That needs to be a personal conversation.I hope I have accomplished some of what I set out to here. I don’t want to be the “intruder” but I damn well intend that the viewpoint of my colleagues and I be heard. Without us the “conversation” is crippled!

Monday, February 02, 2015

If you want a “PERFECT STORM” to inflict upon the cops in a
city, to demoralize and endanger them even as you expect more and more of
them, you need look no farther than Seattle.

The reality here, described as DE-POLICING by Federal Monitor Merrick Bobb, is evident in the actions and utterances of
many of Seattle's Finest. Many have confirmed the case in conversations with folks
around the City; significant numbers of police commanders say it as well. As you will
see…you can’t blame them.

De-policing is a defensive posture in which cops seek to
minimize their engagement with the public to avoid complaints and other
consequences developed in a fire of criticism and hostility that has been
fueled by the selfish or simply stupid interests of a few politicians, so-called community leaders and very certainly the media.

Who can blame the cops? They face danger on
the streets while feeling the "heat on their backsides" from an
ill-defined "REFORM PROCESS" poorly managed by a Federal cadre
that is hearing too much from the wrong people, to the exclusion of temperate
voices, thus crippling the very reform they contend they are dedicated to.

Make no mistake...there have been failures at SPD that
sorely need repair. Look at the cop stomping the man who was down and cuffed
in one incident, or the cop who ran into the downtown convenience store and
started playing "Karate Kid" on a suspect who was clearly
not aggressive at the time. Look at the horrible "execution" of the
woodcarver John Williams by a terribly
misguided cop who was in no danger whatsoever at the time. This is
gross, even criminal, misconduct. There are other such incidents, to be
sure, but no epidemic.

Management failure in the far greatest part has led to this state of affairs and to the Federal presence. Management failures
that have taken root after twenty-plus years of inept leadership by this or
that "special Chief of Police" brought in by "special people” at
City Hall in league with "special people" from community
groups. They have failed repeatedly over thirty-plus years yet they go
unchallenged.

This "Inevitable
Aristocracy" that all cities produce too often displaces voices from the
wider community when these "special selections" occur. This needs to
be a conversation all by itself in the near future. The cast of characters needs to change.

It needs to be said here that the new Chief, Kathleen
O'Toole, has generated some initial encouragement in the ranks of retired cops
like me. But she has to directly and publicly - and soon pick up the pace of
real leadership at SPD and overcome the impression that she has first and
foremost to "dance to the Federal Tune." More on that to come.

SO THE QUESTION...WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS?

There is plenty of blame to go around. Time to look at the
most troubling examples. But first we need to promptly dispose of the cancerous
notion that there has been major misconduct and abuse by a significant number
of cops anywhere in this City that legitimizes the magnitude of this Circus.
Even the most strident critics of SPD officers have never made that case because it is not the truth, but hysteria and prejudice substitute well in
their minds.

What we are treated to by our local media, whose job is to open civic issues to intelligent examination, are endless repeats of the unholy footage of a few cops in
glaring examples of misconduct and unquestioning repetition of the exaggerated
claims of the critics.

It is actual mismanagement by some at
the high levels of SPD that has precipitated need for "REFORM," but the efforts should be measured and focused on that failure and not become
this "Barnum and Bailey Extravaganza"
feeding on hackneyed footage of a few cops gone wrong.

It is at that level (management) where the problem of poor
training and discipline originate and it must be fixed first. And then effective responses to the occasional misconduct by a few cops will follow in a proper
manner.

AS TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE:

THERE IS A PATHETIC AND WELL RECORDED HISTORY of the
origin(s) and perpetuation of this malaise. It reaches back to several Mayors
and cops. With that said...and leaving it to further scrutiny when that might
be appropriate...lets pick up the trail with the past year's drama. Let’s look
to "Special" Ed Murray:

Ed rides into office with no claim whatsoever to understand
policing and cops in any but the most abstract way and quickly announces that
POLICE REFORM, not police service, is an absolute priority. He gathers
"advisers" and community voices and the impression is promoted by
the media that the new Mayor is obviously "in command."

Ed soon looks in on "Acting Chief" Jim Pugel, who
was appointed by Mike McGinn a short while before. Pugel has already impressed
Merrick Bobb at the Federal office by making a determined effort to set the
real needed reform(s) in motion at SPD.

Special Ed joins in that endorsement and the cops begin to
hope that some stability is at hand. But Pugel, acting with the necessary
resolve, demotes three top commanders as part of the revitalization all agree is
needed at SPD command. But...not so fast here....

One of the "demotees" is Nick Metz, who is now
said to be "the Black Guy" by longtime "community voice" Harriet Walden who has has had a longstanding presence in public conversations about the police department. Note here:
Nick Metz never to my memory made any issue of his race.

The gist of it is this: Pugel never condescends to publicly
rationalize these moves. He acts as a responsible commander should, and not the
least of his concerns is that anyone subject to such movement deserves some
dignity and privacy and absolutely should not be stigmatized or diminished by
unnecessary disclosures.

Yet, without a moment hesitation, Harriet cries out to the
media something to the effect of "That's right...BLAME IT ON THE BLACK
GUY!" Harriet offers no evidence or even argument that Metz is being
singled out as a fall guy here. Metz alone wasn’t reassigned! Two “WHITE
GUYS” went with him!

Harriet didn’t even need to offer any evidence that Metz was
singled out. Special Ed immediately responds to this
blatant "race card" play. He sacks poor Jim Pugel, a shattering
blow to the "stability" the cops had come to hope for and an unholy
precursor of folly to come.

Moving to further placate Harriet (and God only knows who
else), Special Ed rounds up recently retired Harry Bailey (an even Blacker
Guy?) and installs him as Acting Chief but on condition that Harry foreswear
any appetite for the position permanently. Special Ed doesn't seem to see the
significance of his “limitation” here. He seemingly tosses Harry out as a sort
of token, apparently to further placate Harriet, et. al.

Harry is well and affectionately held by the cops across the
street, with whom he served for thirty-plus years. This
"limitation" further signals that "stability" may never be
taken for granted in the realm of Ed Murray. (Interestingly, even a
few "journalists" have remarked on occasion that Ed is a little
"mercuric" when confronted.)

Within a few days the hapless Harry steps in to resume
some of the work Pugel had started, cleaning up some disciplinary problems
that had festered far too long in the dysfunctional mess that was command at
SPD.

Knowing that such uncertainty is destructive of
morale, Harry settled the cases (none of which involved any "high crime
or misdemeanor" against the public) and sought to move on to the work at
hand. But...not so fast...

Minor incidents that should be promptly dealt with are
the very choice fodder for the "Hyper-Critics" of the cops...who
exaggerate such modest matters into their inflated tirades...and like Harriet
with her "BLAME IT" tirade. Murray soon heard from these folks...and
once again he chose to cut-and-run!

Murray initially endorsed this "house-cleaning" by
both Pugel and Bailey but now he had to scurry. So he runs Harry up on the
gallows (the good old press conference) with his "Machiavellian" mystery adviser Bernie Melechian nearby in
the background. Harry has to eat humble pie, recanting Pugel's practical
decisions that he had in turn endorsed.

Harry deserved better. This matter should have been
resolved quietly, with the media aware but not agitated by the theatrics. Special Ed lost even more "cred" with the cops, and the Mayor's Office
didn't have much in the bank to begin with.

So, in one bold capitulation, Special Ed establishes
a brand new standard for personnel management. What “classes of city employees”
can now expect such political filtration of their assignments, Ed? With the
passion for special classes here in Seattle it is likely going to be
everybody…but white folk.

THE OTHER BRIGHT LIGHTS AT CITY HALL

Swirling around all this melodrama in real time, the City
Council has maintained its own "Special Place" over on stage
left, not much to mention beyond the predictable meandering they present about
this critical sort of issue. They add little in the way of focus here, and
can only be counted on to provide the "dignified aloofness" that is a
Council specialty.

But fear not, there is another actor at City Hall that more
than makes up for the vacuum the Council serves up...our stalwart City Attorney
Peter (PETEY?) Holmes. Here is a guy who would walk on hot coals before he
would miss a slap at the working cop.

We don't even have to present the list here. Petey won’t
let anyone forget his wretched campaign to demean and hinder the working cops
in Seattle. In this he serves as a priceless megaphone for the garden
variety "cop-bashers" that infest so much of the public discourse
here in the Emerald City.

Let me say again here - there are very real problems at
SPD. No one knows it better than the cops and they want these problems fixed. But
constantly and indiscriminately kicking them in the teeth when they are caught
in such a political crossfire is unbecoming of a City Official who is himself sworn
to the public interest. Has he no sense of the demoralizing effect he
has? Will nobody inform him?

ENTER NOW…THE FEDERALES

Look now at the Federal apparatus. Inevitable tensions
in the police - community relationship in cities like Seattle lead in many cases
to these "Federal Adoptions," virtual takeovers of police
departments on the marginal premise that they have become so corrupted they are
a danger to the very public they serve.

This "Adoption" exercise has literally become an industry with outside advisers and monitors plying their trade
whenever the Federal system chooses. Money is made here, and the longer the
"adoption" period, the more money to be distributed. That former "police
administrator" types join this industry in significant numbers raises questions
that no one has even asked with any clarity, what needs to be done and who is folowing the money? One such fellow in Oakland managed to bank
about a quarter million before he was located.

The common litany of offenses identified in “the profiling”
of the given police agency becomes rather standard stuff, guaranteed to stir the
radical heart. EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE... PROFILING... SELECTIVE
ENFORCEMENT ...for starters. The menu is rounded out with real or imagined
specifics from city to city.

In point of fact, most of these "sins" are
occasionally committed in the routine of policing in most cities and
towns. Once upon a time there was very little accountability, but social
pressures (from the sixties on) pushed this unholy situation out into the
open and much has been done to correct the problem in the interim, even if the
“cop-bashers” marginalize it to keep things stirred up.

EFFORTS AT ACCOUNTABILITY…AND ACCOMMODATION

The emergence of the Internal Investigation process in
police agencies, which is by no means perfect and in fact has become a problem
itself for the public, has been improved by increasing civilian review boards
and committees. It is this latter process which must become the final
mechanism for review and resolution of
police / community concerns and conflicts. This evolution will free up
cops currently maintaining appearances in the Internal Investigation Division to go back to
productive public safety efforts at a time when they are sorely needed.

Meanwhile, the Federal process is free to move along
unfettered for the most part by recognition of these earlier but ongoing
efforts. The Feds initiate entirely subjective “indictments” from that list of generic elements but with very little specificity as to how many incidents
of, say, excessive force have been identified, and even less specificity about how
many and particularly which cops might be involved.

SO BEGINS THE DECLINE

Make no mistake…this is where the demoralization of the
working cop begins. They are all stigmatized by this “shotgun approach” even as
some may well have intervened to put an end to such abuses they see very few
of their fellows practice. While cops generally have a subtle feeling that the great
number of folks they serve do not prejudice them so, there is a paranoia
nonetheless, never knowing when an opportunistic critic may be around. That
paranoia is one of the basic fuels of the DE-POLICING that Federal
Monitor Merrick Bobb notes in his public utterances. Bobb needs to answer
the question: isn’t this “de-policing” a predictable and common consequence of these
“Adoptions”and the pall they cast? Shouldn't he utter some words to quiet
this fear from time to time?

There are other support players in this Federal cast.
Recently departed U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkin was always available for a chorus
of essentially-marginal police department bashing. She will be missed at choir
practice.

The principal other is Federal Judge James Robart. who has been assigned to
enforce the City adherence to the federal demands. He has been a stern task-master. His orders and demands are well recorded in the media, as
have been the responses of the City and notably in recent months of Katie
O’Toole (which we will come to in a moment). But an extremely telling utterance
from Judge Robart came as a result of a complaint by a significant number of SPD
officers that the new “use-of-force-mandates” were too subjective and in fact
would place the officers in danger if not modified to reflect the realities
they face on the street all too often. With little apparent objectivity, not even allowing the
complainants to produce witnesses (notably retired veterans cops and including
a number or retired commanders), he tossed the troubled cops out on their ears
with the comment that "WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS!”

“WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS” INDEED! Could there be a more telling indictment, a more telling expression of prejudice, a more telling exposure of the failing of this "Federal Adoption" process than to have the very arbiter, the master of the art, publicly declare over one hundred cops guilty of an attempt to return to some vague past where (he cynically suggests, if not states) they were in league in a practice of brutality and abuse of authority?? What else could he have been inferring?

Judge Robart needs to explain this. Yet who will ask him?
The mayor has not! Chief O’Toole has not! Merrick Bobb has not! Jenny Durkin
has not! AND THE MEDIA CERTAINLY HAVE NOT!

This sort of prejudicial expression (condemnation!) is
precisely the sort a proper Judge would never allow in a proceeding in the
Courtroom. If attorneys tried to slip in so improper a remark they might well
hear a contempt warning, at least, from the bench.

OUR OTHER PLAYERS

I might stop here but there are a couple more players who
need mention:

Over time I have canvassed the streets of business zones and adjacent residential areas, carrying the challenge to step up and lobby City
Hall and SPD to re-vitalize operations with a return to a greater public
uniform presence…with an eye on preventing more crime and restoring a sense of
safety and dignity to our public places.

The essence of that effort would be to place more of the
non-uniform personnel in distinctive garb…either the regular uniform or a
distinctive blazer...and have them join the patrol forces in public wherever
trouble can be anticipated. This is covered in this Blog in an entry
called WHERE THE HELL ARE THE COPS??

Scores of people in downtown businesses and neighborhoods
have been the primary focus, given that the very heart of this City has been
plagued for shameful years with street crime and outrage. From the high-end bistros and boutiques to the hot-dog stand
on the corner, countless contacts and never once a negative response to the
idea of more “cops-on-the-corner”! Civic organizations like the Downtown
Seattle Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the major media houses…you name
it…are all in agreement expressing momentary enthusiasm.

But then??...Silence! No challenge to the media to do more
than ex post facto obituary-writing (the next horror story of an assault, rape or homicide; the drug sales and every sort of thievery, with
film-at-eleven). No call for a TOWN MEETING, no HELL-RAISING AT CITY HALL, just
a seeming acquiescence until the next
outrage occurs to rattle them and their colleagues. Civic Seattle has all the hubris but none of the
guts to take a hand in the recovery of this beautiful City where they make
their considerable fortunes. They serve their gourmet plates, pour their
Micro-Brews and fill their publicly funded Stadia with instant millionaire
sports stars, then quietly stroll past the ubiquitous mayhem all around them.
Enough said about “Civic Lights”!

BUT REAL LOCAL HEROES REMAIN

One has to mention that “local heroes” are thankfully always
around. Their efforts in service and community organizations can’t be
discounted. But it also can’t be “counted on”…expected to overcome the problems
the civic establishment tolerates and exacerbates. They can’t be expected to
take on the whole City.

An example is the movement(s) in neighborhood/community
areas to reach into their pockets and fund increased police patrol presence
(off-duty SPD officers) for the added protection of themselves and certainly
their neighbors. Their determination may have hoped-for results in their neighborhoods, and more power to them. Four such efforts are already in
motion in Madison Park, Windemere, Laurelhurst the Whittier community in
Ballard.

But there is a downside here: The threat of the City
becoming even more polarized along the have-vs-have-not barricades. Not all
communities are coherent or wealthy enough to take these measures. And to the
degree that City Hall encourages this all…it has a hand in the further decline
of safety and civility in Seattle. Has anyone heard a word from “Special Ed”
about this?

TO BE CONTINUED with narrative regarding Katie O’Toole and her early
efforts.